


The Difference Between Before And Now

by Fighting_for_Creativity



Category: Marvel
Genre: Alpine to the rescue, Angst, Boys talk, Bucky Barnes Feels, M/M, No Beta, Pre-Relationship, Tony Stark Has A Heart, kinda flashback
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:41:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28458453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fighting_for_Creativity/pseuds/Fighting_for_Creativity
Summary: The noises made whenever Bucky's arm was being inspected or repaired had always been the same. Was it with Hydra or with Tony.Thankfully there are the small things that make him remember that he's living in the now and not the before.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41
Collections: Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020, StarkBucksBingo2020





	The Difference Between Before And Now

**Author's Note:**

> Yep. Slight angst with happy ending. I love.

Clank, clank, whir, whir.

The sounds of metal scraping metal, servos realigning themselves, of wires being clapped in place. Before, those sounds had invoken panic in the Soldier’s heart. His eyes had always stared straight ahead, never, not once, had he dared to look at what the mechanic did to his arm.

Before, he was not aware that he should see himself as a person, as someone that had a choice and a right to know what happened to him.

Before he was a puppet.

Crack, whir, hiss.

Those sounds brought him always closer to the edge. Because despite that  **now** was different to  **before** , those sounds were the same. Always unfailable the same.

Clank, snap, whir, hi- “Meow!”

Blinking Bucky looked over in the direction the meow came from. Slightly behind him, he saw a white cat playing with a screw that she had gotten from a jar, which she had turned over. Confused, because ‘ _ What was a cat doing in Hydra’s workshop? _ ’, Bucky cocked his head towards the mechanic, waiting for the order to get rid of the cat. Why that thought made Bucky sad was a mystery to him.

A dark brown haired man, with a goatee and some kind of glasses, turned away from the cat towards him and smiled. “Looks like Alpine doesn’t like it when I stay silent. So now you’ve gotta handle my babbling instead, Barnes.”

Just like that the ‘now’ slammed into Bucky again.

‘ _ Ah right. _ ’ 

He wasn’t in a Hydra workshop. He wasn’t their puppet anymore. The cat was his, Alpine. And the man currently holding precision tools wasn’t a Hydra mechanic either. He was Anthony Edward Stark, a friend of Sharon and-

  
“Huh? Barnes? No witty comeback? What’s got your wires crossed?”

And an anyouance beyond anything Bucky had ever known. “No respect for ya’r elders! I’m fine Stark.”

“Ouch. Back to Stark, are we?”

“Well, stop calling me Barnes and I might stop calling you Stark.”

“Nope, you won’t.” Stark said so confidently as if he knew everything about Bucky. Knew the ‘in and outs’ the ‘what and how's’ and understood the way Bucky functioned, even better than Bucky understood himself. 

While he gave into the witty bantering between the two of them, Bucky felt himself relax. 

This was his life now. He wasn’t bound or gagged any longer. He was free and he was deciding mostly for himself who was aloud and who wasn’t allowed close by.

Bucky wasn’t sure what exactly possessed him to say, “There’s going to be a firework.” But he thought it might have to do with Stark finishing and smiling at him in just  _ that  _ way that made Bucky’s heart rate pick up and threatened him to blush.

He didn’t want Tony to leave, not yet, and if he was honest, not ever. 

“What, are you asking me to go there with you?” Stark’s tone was light and teasing, yet laced with an undercurrent of serious intrigue.

Bucky could hear the clutter of the ice cubes in the glasses Sharon was bringing towards the garage. Therefore he knew he was running out of alone time with the mechanic. ‘ _ It’s now or never Barnes. _ ’

“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m asking, Tony. Would you go to the festival with me and watch the fireworks?”

Tony seemed unsure what to make of this. Bucky held out his hand, the metal one because he was a left-handed man and because it was the one Tony knew best of him.

Tentative Tony stretched his own hand out, hovering above Bucky’s before asking, “As friends?”

That was the question right? Because  **before** there wasn’t anything akin to friends let alone more in Bucky’s life. But… Could he be happy with being friends with Tony? Could he live with himself if he doesn’t at least try to make it more?

“If you’d like, I would prefer this to be a date.” His voice was stronger than he felt himself to be. Tony’s hand came to rest softly on Bucky’s, the smile he was gifted with a truly beautiful sight. “Then it’s a date, Buckeroo.”

“Meow!” Seemingly agreeing Alpine meowed after. Shortly thereafter Sharon entered a questioning tilt to her chin upon seeing the two men hand-holding. Thankfully she didn’t comment on it. Instead, she involved Tony in some talk about something or another. Bucky couldn’t care much. He was simply happy that he lived in the  **now** and not the  **before** anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> Title: The Difference Between Before And Now  
> Collaborator Name: J_Gun_i  
> Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28458453  
> Square Filled: N3 Free  
> Ship/Main Pairing: WinterIron  
> Rating: M  
> Major Tags & Triggers: Angst, kinda flashback to Hydra time, pre-relationship, friends, Alpine to the rescue  
> Summary: The noises made whenever Bucky's arm was being inspected or repaired had always been the same. Was it with Hydra or with Tony.  
> Thankfully there are the small things that make him remember that he's living in the now and not the before.  
> Word Count: 742
> 
> BBB  
> Title: The Difference Between Before And Now  
> Square Filled: U2 Image of Bucky and Tony in Bucky's garage while Tony works on the arm and Alpine plays in the background  
> Author: J_Gun_i  
> Pairing: WinterIron  
> Rating: M  
> Warnings: Angst, kinda flashback to Hydra time, pre-relationship, friends, Alpine to the rescue  
> Summary: The noises made whenever Bucky's arm was being inspected or repaired had always been the same. Was it with Hydra or with Tony.  
> Thankfully there are the small things that make him remember that he's living in the now and not the before.  
> Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28458453


End file.
